An animal leash is typically connected to a collar worn around the neck of an animal and is free to rotate around the neck. An animal, such as a dog, that has not been trained, instinctively wishes to roam away from its handler. When the dog tries to walk or run away and pulls the leash taut, the collar is automatically rotated so that the leash is positioned at the back of the neck. As the dog pulls the leash taut, it feels pressure on the front of its neck.
Many animals have an opposition reflex that makes them instinctively move toward the part of their bodies on which they feel pressure. Since the dog feels pressure at the front part of the collar when he pulls on a leash that has been rotated to the back, the collar encourages the dog to pull away from its handler with even greater force. As another example, the opposition reflex of a horse causes it to turn towards the side where the rider's leg applies pressure.
In addition to collars, there are animal harnesses that wrap around the torso. A typical harness has a leash attachment at the back of the animal, but a back-mounted leash cannot be used to give the animal cues for learning how to walk and not drift left or right. The back-mounted leash also signals the animal to pull on the leash, similar to a neck collar, because of the pressure on the front of the chest when the animals pulls the leash taut. Some prior art harnesses discourage pulling behavior by providing devices that rub, chafe, or hobble the animal's front legs, but these devices cause stress and discomfort.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a harness that applies pressure to the opposite side of the animal with respect to the direction it is seeking to wander away from a user holding a leash. Such a leash would apply pressure triggering the opposition reflex bringing the animal back into line.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.